Christopher Houlihan Plays Bach
Azica ACD-71314
Release Date: February 17, 2017
The young American musician Christopher Houlihan is widely acknowledged as one of the brightest stars in the new generation of organists, praised by the media as “dazzling” (Wall Street Journal), “eloquent” (Los Angeles Times) and “gifted” (New York Times). "Christopher Houlihan plays Bach" is Mr. Houlihan's third CD and first release on the Azica label. The performances were recorded at the Trinity College Chapel in Hartford, CT on the Austin Organ op. 2536.
It goes without saying that almost all serious organists regard Johann Sebastian Bach’s magnificent works as the foundation of their musical art. Performed on any decent instrument dating from Bach’s time forward, the composer’s genius and compositional facility never fail to shine through in any of his works, be they large or small. His impeccable craftsmanship, supreme sense of musical invention, intense spirituality and unmatched contrapuntal mastery make each example a memorable and uplifting experience.
But how might an organ virtuoso’s playing make an even greater impression upon listeners when performed on instruments that are distinctly different from those of Bach’s time and the succeeding two centuries? Distinguished concert organist Christopher Houlihan answers that question in this, his first CD devoted entirely to Bach masterpieces.
As he tells us, this CD was recorded at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut on the Austin Organ built there in 1972: an eclectic instrument in the “American-classic” style with an electro-pneumatic action that offers a much wider range of dynamic and interpretive possibilities than a typical instrument of Bach’s era.
Houlihan says, “The past sixty or so years have seen numerous, groundbreaking recordings of Bach’s music on historic and historically informed instruments; this recording is a decidedly modern take on this repertoire. You’ll hear crescendos and diminuendos as well as registration changes that are only possible on a modern organ. I do not believe this distorts Bach’s genius, but rather highlights different aspects of it. It’s a little like playing Bach on a piano: perhaps one doesn’t play it like Liszt would have, but how much does one pretend the piano is a harpsichord?”
So, as you hear Mr. Houlihan’s remarkable interpretations, bear in mind Bach’s own open-minded (and proven) predilection for new and different keyboard instruments: the different sorts of sounds they made, and the varied interpretive possibilities they offered. His personal collection of instruments included not only the standard harpsichords and clavichords of his day, but also the relatively seldom-heard “lautenwerck” – an instrumental novelty of his era. Also, while there is no firm supporting evidence, Bach may even have possibly owned one or more fortepianos: the evolutionary successor to the harpsichord, and the touch-sensitive precursor of the modern piano.
Many scholars have thus come to the conclusion that Bach – himself an expert in organ design and construction – would have enthusiastically welcomed improvements to the instrument that – more than any other – embodied Bach’s claim to fame as a performing virtuoso.
Mr. Houlihan’s program includes five of Bach’s most substantial organ masterpieces – as well as his own original transcription for organ of the master’s justly popular keyboard work, the BWV 971 Italian Concerto. In fact, the bulk of Bach’s larger and more virtuosic organ works were composed relatively early in his career, primarily during his sojourn in Weimar (1708-1717). It was there that he held a relatively prominent post as an organist, and where his reputation as perhaps Europe’s most brilliant organ virtuoso was largely forged.
Album release date:
18 February 2017